Eddie Hearn can’t envision any scenario in which Caleb Plant will upset Canelo Alvarez on November 6 in Las Vegas.
The British promoter accordingly has mapped out a plan for Alvarez’s return to the ring after defeating Plant in their super middleweight title unification fight next month at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Hearn believes Alvarez – with whom his company, Matchroom Boxing, maintains a professional partnership – will want to conquer the light heavyweight division once he becomes the first fully unified 168-pound champion in the history of boxing’s four-belt era.
Hearn intends to help keep the unbeaten Bivol (18-0, 11 KOs) sharp by matching him against English southpaw John Ryder (30-5, 17 KOs), maybe at some point in December in the United Kingdom.
“I think, right now, if I’m Dmitry Bivol,” Hearn said, “I’m saying, ‘Well, if Canelo beats Plant, what’s the next challenge? And the next challenge, in my mind, is for him to become undisputed at 175. So, Bivol would be the first stop. So, we’re looking at a fight between Dmitry Bivol and John Ryder, maybe in the UK. And then I’d like to try and make the fight with him against Canelo Alvarez in May.
“Now, we’ve also got Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith, who looked great last time out. So, we’ve got loads of options for Dmitry Bivol. Gilberto Ramirez is a good fight [for Bivol] as well, but I think, you know, the plan has got to be keep yourself bubbling for that Canelo Alvarez fight because you need to be available and you need to be ready.”
“You wouldn’t be sitting on the shelf,” Hearn explained. “You’d be fighting Callum Smith, you’d be fighting Joshua Buatsi. So, we would say, ‘You’ve got one fight in December or whatever, and you’re guaranteed to fight in March if you don’t get Canelo. But if you do, congratulations.’ And I think – I know that Bivol is really in the mind of Canelo Alvarez for the next challenge, which could be 175 pounds.”
